LATIN REVIEW

CHPS. 1-19

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Conjugations refer to “verbs.”

There are four conjugations in Latin, including the sub-conjugation of 3rd –io verbs.

1st/2nd conjugation verbs will be conjugated the same way in all six tenses; conjugational patterns will differ for 3rd, 3rd –io and 4th conjugation verbs.

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Verbs have five characteristics:

Person – 1st/2nd/3rd Number – singular/plural Tense –

present/future/imperfect/perfect/ pluperfect/ future perfect

Mood – indicative/imperative/subjunctive Voice – active/passive

Overview

Just like nouns and adjectives, we put Lain verbs into groups that of verbs that are formed in the same way.

We call these categories of verbs Conjugations.

Verbs too change their endings, but in a way different from nouns. The endings of the verb tell us about who is doing the verbal action.

We call the endings of a verb the Personal Endings.

The Conjugations

Each of the four Conjugations of Latin Verbs has what we call a Thematic Vowel.

When a verb belongs to a particular conjugation, it means the Thematic Vowel always appears in the verb in its Present, Imperfect, and Future tense forms, so the Conjugation and Thematic Vowel are crucial to forming a verb correctly.

The Thematic Vowels

The Thematic Vowels for each of the Conjugations are the following:

1st Conjugation: ā

2nd Conjugation: ē

3rd Conjugation: e

4th Conjugation: ī

When you encounter a verb in Latin, the first thing you must do is identify the Conjugation. You identify the Conjugation by identifying the verb’s Thematic Vowel, which can be told from looking at the First and Second Principle Parts TOGETHER.

The Four Principle Parts

When you look up a verb in your dictionary, it will be listed with what are called its Four Principle Parts:

Amo, Amāre, Amavi, Amatus,-a, -um

1st Person Present Active 1st Person Perfect Passive

Singular Infinitve Singular Participle

Present Perfect

“I love” “To Love” “I loved” “Having been loved”

Video, Vidēre, Vidi, Visus, -a, -um

Duco, Ducere, Duxi, Ductus, -a, -um

Recognizing the Conjugation from the Principle PartsConjugation 1st P.P. 2nd P.P. T.V.

1st - o - āre ā2nd - eo - ēre ē3rd - o - ere e3rd –io - io - ere e4th - io - īre ī

What is the conjugation of the following verbs?

1. ambulō, ambulāre, ambulāvī, ambulātum=

2. ascendō, ascendere, ascendī, ascensum =

3. audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum =

4. dēbeō, dēbēre, dēbuī, dēbitum =

5. exerceō, exercēre, exercuī, exercitum =

6. imperō, imperāre, imperāvī, imperātum =

7. capiō, capere, cēpī, captum =

8. mittō, mittere, mīsī, missum =

9. poscō, poscere, poposcī, — =

10. veniō, venīre, venī, ventum =

1. ambulō, ambulāre, ambulāvī, ambulātum = 1st

2. ascendō, ascendere, ascendī, ascensum = 3rd

3. audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum = 4th

4. dēbeō, dēbēre, dēbuī, dēbitum = 2nd

5. exerceō, exercēre, exercuī, exercitum = 2nd

6. imperō, imperāre, imperāvī, imperātum = 1st

7. capiō, capere, cēpī, captum = 3rd -io

8. mittō, mittere, mīsī, missum = 3rd

9. poscō, poscere, poposcī, — = 3rd

10. veniō, venīre, venī, ventum = 4th

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Thus far, we have only learned the all the systems except the perfect system passive of the 3rd and 4th conjugations.

The Present System

As mentioned before, Latin uses different stems for different tenses. We learn the four Principle parts of any verb in order to form the three different verbal stems any Latin verb has.

Stems 1st + 2nd P.P. Present Active/Passive3rd P.P. Perfect Active4th P.P. Perfect Passive

Here we will discuss the tenses you form on the Present Stem, the so-called Present System

The Present System

The Present System refers to the tenses we form using the Present Active/Passive Stem.

These are:

1. Present

2. Imperfect

3. Future

We form these tenses by adding the Present Active Personal Endings and the appropriate Tense Marker to the Present Stem.

To form the Present Stem, we drop the –re from the 2nd Principle Part.

Formation of the Present StemFormation of the Present Stem: Drop the –re

from the 2nd Principle Part - Exempla:1. ambulō, ambulāre = 2. ascendō, ascendere =3. audiō, audīre = 4. dēbeō, dēbēre = 5. exerceō, exercēre = 6. imperō, imperāre = 7. capiō, capere =8. mittō, mittere =9. poscō, poscere =10. veniō, venīre =

Stem Vowels and Tense

NB: The Present Stem will always end in a vowel.

This vowel will change slightly between the Present Tense and the Imperfect and Future Tenses according to the following rule:

Tense 1st 2nd 3rd 3rd –io 4th

Present -a -e -i -i -i

Imperfect -a -e -e -ie -ie

Future -a -e -e -ie -ie

Now that we have the Present Stem, we must learn the Active Personal Endings of the Present System:

- o / m - mus- s - tis- t - nt

All active forms of the Present, Imperfect, and Future Tenses use these endings and only these endings, which we add to the Present Stem following a formula for each tense.

1st/2nd CONJUGATION

amo, amare, amavi, amatum (to love)habeo, habēre, habui, habitum (to have)

Present Future Imperfectamo/habeo amabo/habebo

amabam/habebam

amas/habes amabis/habebis amabas/habebas

amat/habet amabit/habebit amabat/habebat

amamus/habemus amabimus/habebimus amabamus/habebamus

amatis/habetis amabitis/habebitis amabatis/habebatis

amant/habent amabunt/habebunt amabant/habebant

3rd CONJUGATION

duco, ducere, duxi, ductum (to lead) Present Future Imperfect

duco ducam ducēbam

ducis duces ducēbas

ducit ducet ducēbat

ducimus ducemus ducēbamus

ducitis ducetis ducēbatis

ducunt ducent ducēbant

3rd –IO/4th CONJUGATION

capio, capere, cepi, captum (to seize/take)venio, venire, vēni, venitum (to come)

Present Future Imperfect

capio/venio capiam/veniamcapiēbam/veniēbam

capis/venis capies/venies capiēbas/veniēbas

capit/venit capiet/veniet capiēbat/veniēbat

capimus/venimus capiemus/veniemuscapiēbamus/veniēbamus

capitis/venitis capietis/venietis capiēbatis/veniēbatis

capiunt/veniunt capient/venientcapiēbant/veniēbant

IMPERATIVES

Singular Find the stem; Plural add –te to the stem

1st/2nd Conjugations (amo, amare; habeo, habēre)ama amatēhabē habetē

3rd/3rd –io Conjugations (ago, agere; capio, capere)age agitēcape capitē

4th Conjugations (venio, venire)veni venitē

IRREGULAR VERBS

sum, esse, fui, futurus (to be/to exist)

Present Future Imperfectsum ero erames eris erasest erit eratsumus erimus eramusestis eritis eratissunt erunt erant

IRREGULAR VERBS

possum, posse, potui (to be able)Present Future Imperfectpossum potero poterampotes poteris poteraspotest poterit poteratpossumus poterimuspoteramuspotestis poteritis poteratispossunt poterunt poterant

SUMMARY OF IDIOMS

amabo tē please

gratias agere (+ dative case) to give thanks

bellum gerere to wage war

poenas dare to pay the penalty/suffer the consequences

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

Latin's m.o. (modus operandī — way of operating) is based on quite a different system of rules. Marcus canem amat.  (Mark loves his dog.) Canem Marcus amat.  (Mark loves his dog.) Amat canem Marcus.  (Mark loves his dog.) Marcus amat canem.  (Mark loves his dog.) Canem amat Marcus.  (Mark loves his dog.) Amat Marcus canem.  (Mark loves his dog.)

How can all six sentences mean the same thing?!

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

In an English sentence, you know who's doing what to whom based on which noun comes before or after the verb. The doer comes first, then the action, then the doee (subject-verb-object).

In the Latin version, what comes first really doesn't matter. The position may change, but as long as the endings don't, the meaning remains the same. Inflected languages like Latin use word endings as flags to show who's doing what to whom.

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

Although word order is not crucial to Latin syntax, it does suggest a bit of nuance. A grammatical subject has immediate association with a verb. A topic, however, comes as if an answer to a question — the most important bit.  Marcum canis amat would stress whom the

dog loves.  Canis Marcum amat, on the other hand,

tells who loves Mark. Same endings + different order = different

emphasis.

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

The grammar of Latin is highly inflected; consequently, it allows for a large degree of flexibility in choosing word order.  

Word order for prose sentences, however, is generally subject–object–verb, although variations on this are especially common in poetry and express subtle nuances in prose.